I mean, it IS the Independence Day! Why doesn't Disneyland GO BIG with the show? No fireworks from Main Street/ Hub? No fire? No lasers? The finale is so.... meh. Compare it to WDW's Celebrate America and you'll be blown away. Of course I understand that DL's neighbor's won't be so happy if they went all out like WDW but it just seems to fall short, even when comparing it to Disneyland's standards of fireworks shows (like Magical or Remember...) It's just meh. I think Magical's finale is more "wow" than Celebrate America. Any thoughts?

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The Magic Kingdom has more sites where they can launch fireworks from, including all around the perimeter of the park, so that you get surrounded by fireworks during the show. Fireworks laws in California are very different than fireworks laws in Florida. There is also the amount of space that Disneyland has to work with, they tried to "go big" and it resulted in a huge mess when debris landed on Ball Road in back of Disneyland. Disneyland has a very limited area to launch fireworks from.

The Magic Kingdom has more sites where they can launch fireworks from, including all around the perimeter of the park, so that you get surrounded by fireworks during the show. Fireworks laws in California are very different than fireworks laws in Florida. There is also the amount of space that Disneyland has to work with, they tried to "go big" and it resulted in a huge mess when debris landed on Ball Road in back of Disneyland. Disneyland has a very limited area to launch fireworks from.

I understand that. That's why I said Disneyland's neighbors won't like it. But I did add on that it's even low when comparing it to Disneyland's own standards. They can pull off launching fireworks from the Main Street rooftops from January to May with Remember... which also includes fire and lasers. And they pull off a large finale with Magical. But the independence day fireworks are pretty bland.

I understand that. That's why I said Disneyland's neighbors won't like it. But I did add on that it's even low when comparing it to Disneyland's own standards. They can pull off launching fireworks from the Main Street rooftops from January to May with Remember... which also includes fire and lasers. And they pull off a large finale with Magical. But the independence day fireworks are pretty bland.

That is true. The budget for the Celebrate fireworks is between almost a third less of the Remember fireworks. Remember is estimated to cost $33,000 a performance, whereas they rarely put any more than $10,000 into Celebrate. With that in mind, they could definitely "go bigger" with Celebrate. This year they are pushing the Glow With The Show thing for both the fireworks and the World Of Color pre-show for the fourth.

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I thought the same thing when I saw the show on Monday. It seemed like it was building up to a big finale that never really materialized. The show was OK, but Disneyland has done much more impressive shows that you have to wonder why the 4th of July show is not up to those standards. As mentioned, I am curious as to why the hub perimeter launch sites are not utilized for this show.

I wonder if the full show tomorrow will have a more grand finale. I remember seeing the 2009 show on the actual 4th and the finale had more of a bang to it.

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This seems to weird. I do not understand this at all. You would think it would be the opposite. Maybe it is because they know they are going to be at capacity no matter what, because average tourists who really dont know any difference between RDCT or M! or C!A and so they figure as long as they are seeing fireworks that those guests are happy ready to spend money at a near-or-at-capacity park??

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Please tell me you guys aren't comparing the shows on July 1st thru 3rd to the WDW show on July 4th? The Disneyland shows July 1st thru 3rd are the short version of Celebrate America.

On July 4th they roll out the long version of Celebrate America, and it's about 7 minutes longer with many more effects and over twice as many pyro shells than what is used in the short version. And the finale is over-the-top huge for the long version.

On July 5th thru the 7th they'll return to the short version, then go back to performing Magical on July 8th.

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I don't know about that.. I saw the Celebrate America show and July 4th last year, and the finale was not all that much different than the shot version. It was basically the same finale with just some extra "big boom" fireworks tossed in.. A big let down compared to what they used to do before they came out with the Celebrate show..